UNRWA halts program in Tulkarem-area refugee camp, popular committee says

March 18, 2017 8:54 P.M. (Updated: March 18, 2017 8:54 P.M.)

TULKAREM (Ma’an) -- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has halted an "emergency program" in Nur Shams refugee camp in northern occupied West Bank district of Tulkarem, according the head of the popular committee for services in the camp.

Taha Irani told Ma’an Friday that UNRWA officials informed the committee that the program that was suspended had benefited 160 Palestinian refugee families. Irani did not provide further details about the program, say if the UNRWA administration had provided a justification for its closure, or explain if the move was temporary or permanent.

Irani told Ma’an that he considered the decision to suspend the program "collective punishment against refugees in the camp."

He said that a committee had been formed to initiate a dialogue with UNRWA about operations in refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarem, and that he gave UNRWA four days to back down the alleged decision.

A spokesperson for UNRWA who was not immediately familiar with the incident said he was looking into the case.